A new federal bill that would place limits on e-waste exports could create up to 42,000 new U.S. jobs, according to a new study.
The Coalition For American Electronics Recycling (CAER), a consortium of 82 companies operating approximately 158 electronics recycling and disposition facilities throughout the United States, found that while nearly 1.2 billion pounds of electronics were recycled by CAER members last year, data in a recent EPA-funded report indicates that another 3.6 billion pounds of e-waste was exported, sent to landfills or otherwise processed.
Processing this e-waste in the United States has the potential to create 21,000 full-time recycling jobs and 21,000 additional indirect jobs with a corresponding payroll of $772 million,according to the study.
The study also notes that jobs in this sector are projected to grow in coming years as e-waste volumes continue to rise.
“The U.S. EPA estimates that e-waste is growing two to three times faster than any other portion of the waste stream, fueled by the continued proliferation of electronic devices,” says CAERin a press release.
The bill, known as the Responsible Electronics Recycling Act (RERA), would ban the export of certain types of unprocessed and non-working electronics and e-waste from the U.S. to developing countries.
The bill has received bipartisan support in both the House and Senate and is expected to be re-introduced in the current session of Congress.
